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How To Edit Your Own Work


Bookman

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Here's an article in today's NYT that covers the fundamentals.

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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  • Biber

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So true - good stuff!

 

Erick

Using right now:

Visconti Voyager 30 "M" nib running Birmingham Streetcar

Jinhao 9019 "EF" nib running Birmingham Railroad Spike

Stipula Adagio "F" nib running Birmingham Violet Sea Snail

Sailor Profit "B" nib running Van Dieman's Night - Shooting Star

 

 

 

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I couldn't access the article at first. It wanted me to sign up or to sign in through Google. But when I did that (and unchecked the box accepting random stuff sent to me, it completely disappeared....

I had to open a new window and click on the link again to get it to show up. And then I will after I read it (or, more likely, save it as a .pdf to read later) have to remember to log OUT of Google.

I'm sure it's a very interesting and useful article unless you're the guy who wrote the Gor novels (apparently he got to the point that no one was allowed to touch a word of his prose -- which made the people at the publishing company happy according to what someone told my mother: it was "Oh, the new John Norman "Gor" manuscript has arrived..." "Oh good, send it straight to the printer so we don't actually have to read it!"

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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It's great for manuals, brochures, etc. But letter writing is all about those incoherent ramblings ;) -Bruce

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That's good advice for sure, but it should be taken with a grain of salt in my opinion. Before I even read the article I wondered how long it would take for Strunk and White to be mentioned. I've never been a fan of that book and I've been consciously working against some of its tenets ever since they tried to ram it down my throat in grad school. (boy was that ever a case of physician heal thyself!) Language is a tool and using it is an art. Don't be afraid to express yourself.

"What? What's that? WHAT?!!! SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" - Ludwig van Beethoven.

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That's good advice for sure, but it should be taken with a grain of salt in my opinion. Before I even read the article I wondered how long it would take for Strunk and White to be mentioned. I've never been a fan of that book and I've been consciously working against some of its tenets ever since they tried to ram it down my throat in grad school. (boy was that ever a case of physician heal thyself!) Language is a tool and using it is an art. Don't be afraid to express yourself.

 

Writing is rewriting. Editing takes discipline and attention to detail. Yes, language is a tool and using it is an art. But I'm sure you would agree that editing would be chaos without at least some boundaries in one's own mind that were consistently applied. Language, like civilization itself, is and should be like a minimum security prison. There are and should be some basic rules we know, that we can live by, so we know what each other is about, where we stand. One can follow them or make up one's own rules or try to communicate without rules. The reaction may be a yawn or pats on the back or shivs in the back.

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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I think that somewhere in a box I have my mother's copy of Strunk and White.... :rolleyes: Maybe even on a bookshelf someplace.

Biber, I think you're both right and wrong. You're right in that it shouldn't be a way to fence writers in -- but grammar IS important. Language IS important. And for a lot of editors, that is what they're going to be basing the work sent to them on.

And you're wrong in wanting to toss it completely out the window. Because you have to know what the rules *are* so you can know when (and how) to break them. Remember -- even Picasso didn't start by being Picasso -- he had classical art training; so when he "broke the rules" he knew how. And exactly the ways in which he wanted to break them, and when. He didn't start with Cubism. He didn't even start with the Blue Period paintings.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for formatting issues

Edited by inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I agree wholeheartedly, rules of construction are very important and the process of writing is inherently one of revision.

 

I should apologize for having been triggered.

"What? What's that? WHAT?!!! SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" - Ludwig van Beethoven.

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When I was in college (undergrad), I had a Geography teaching assistant that was an absolute nut about writing style. He was older - almost as old as my professors - but he had a thing about about the way we wrote our reports. This was a Geography class, for goodness sakes! But he spent hours correcting our writing - not just grammar - and making suggestions about re-wording and on and on. But he never reduced our grades because of our writing. One day I decided to talk with him his passion for writing. Yes, I was really interested. He shared with me some of his writings and they were masterful! They were clear, crisp and altogether fresh. His writing style immediately captivated me. I asked him how he learned to write like this. He told me it involved three things: 1) journal everyday - just write about whatever interests you. Putting thoughts to paper takes practice; 2). read constantly, particularly great authors. When we are constantly exposed to good writing, we will over time improve our writing ability and our speaking ability. 3). write, edit, re-write, edit, re-write, edit, re-write . . .

 

While I do journal everyday, I don't read as much as I should. And I only edit my writing for my clients - well, sometimes I edit my posts, but not as much as I should.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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Back in my previous life, when I was writing intel reports for a certain agency that shall remain nameless, the emphasis was on getting reports on desks in downtown Washington before the information contained in the reports became unusable. Consequently, there was little time for write - rewrite - rewrite . . . etc.

 

The editing technique that I found useful was to pretend to be Tom Brokaw and read my report out loud, as if it were a news item. If I heard myself sounding like an idiot, then I knew that some revision was necessary. Most of the time my reports got thru the higher-up editing process with a minimum of scars.

 

Journaling and letter-writing are more like when a friend of mine was struggling with an open trash bag, and his wife asked him, "Do you want a tie?" His response was, "No, thanks; it's not a formal occasion." (She later divorced him; I wonder why.) Now that I'm retired, the closest that I get to formal writing is in posts like this one.

Until you ink a pen, it is merely a pretty stick. --UK Mike

 

My arsenal, in order of acquisition: Sailor 21 Pocket Pen M, Cross Solo M, Online Calligraphy, Monteverde Invincia F, Hero 359 M, Jinhao X450 M, Levenger True Writer M, Jinhao 159 M, Platinum Balance F, TWSBI Classic 1.1 stub, Platinum Preppy 0.3 F, 7 Pilot Varsity M disposables refillables, Speedball penholder, TWSBI 580 USA EF, Pilot MR, Noodler's Ahab 1.1 stub, another Preppy 0.3, Preppy EF 0.2, ASA Sniper F, Click Majestic F, Kaweco Sport M, Pilot Prera F, Baoer 79 M (fake Starwalker), Hero 616 M (fake Parker), Jinhao X750 Shimmering Sands M . . .

31 and counting :D

 

DaveBj

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Back in my previous life, when I was writing intel reports for a certain agency that shall remain nameless, the emphasis was on getting reports on desks in downtown Washington before the information contained in the reports became unusable. Consequently, there was little time for write - rewrite - rewrite . . . etc.

 

The editing technique that I found useful was to pretend to be Tom Brokaw and read my report out loud, as if it were a news item. If I heard myself sounding like an idiot, then I knew that some revision was necessary. Most of the time my reports got thru the higher-up editing process with a minimum of scars.

 

Journaling and letter-writing are more like when a friend of mine was struggling with an open trash bag, and his wife asked him, "Do you want a tie?" His response was, "No, thanks; it's not a formal occasion." (She later divorced him; I wonder why.) Now that I'm retired, the closest that I get to formal writing is in posts like this one.

 

Knowing your audience and writing accordingly is a very important aspect in my opinion. Clearly you were in a "just the facts maam" situation.

 

As for sounding like an idiot when you you wrote like Tom Brokaw, now THAT'S funny. It's also a pretty good indictment of current media has become (if only the'y write like TB!), that not only decides WHAT we hear as news but HOW we hear it. Wouldn't it be something if "journalists" weren't allowed to use adjectives?

"What? What's that? WHAT?!!! SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" - Ludwig van Beethoven.

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